Privacy and data protection

American and European approaches

Abstract

Privacy and data protection (or information privacy) have been configured and characterized differently in different legal traditions. In the United States, the right to privacy has been progressively constructed as a constitutional right through the various pronouncements of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). In Europe, the right to privacy (private life) has had a different evolution. In Germany, the right to privacy (Privatsphäre) has been developed by the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG), with pronouncements that have had great influence on the European tradition. In Spain, for its part, the right to privacy (intimidad) has had its own evolution, by the Spanish Constitutional Court, although it is possible to find a clear influence of the German tradition. All this has influenced, in turn, on data protection or information privacy, which has also been given a different configuration in these legal traditions.